Archive of Our Own

“Chargebolt, how long until the evacuation of sector three is finished?” Aizawa-sensei’s gruff voice is almost soothing after the large number of office workers he’s had to argue with since the evacuation started an hour ago. 

Like seriously, is this what the corporate sphere has come to? Grown adults refusing to evacuate because they’re more concerned with getting their work done than, you know, actually surviving? Denki’s honestly glad that he decided to be a hero instead of some regular business man, nearly dying to villains on the regular has nothing on whatever torture goes on in these office buildings. 

“We’re about finished now, Rai and I have one last sweep of our current building while Tentacole and Froppy lead the other civilians to basecamp.” 

“Hurry up then, Deku and Uravity are mostly keeping the fight contained to sector two, but that could change in an instant” 

“Sir yes sir!” Denki smiles and pretends to salute despite the fact Aizawa can’t see him. 

“Alright babe you ready to finish this? Maybe we’ll get a chance to actually join the fight if we’re fast!” The electric hero looks down at his daemon, her banded coat fluffed up in excitement as she races ahead, “I call top floor!” Denki laughs but follows her in easily. 

The pair take on a more serious air as they scout out the lobby, not a soul in sight. He switches his glasses to infrared, “Remember Froppy did a sweep earlier, so we’re here to catch any stragglers” 

“Or taze any stubborn bastards who refused to leave,” Denki chuckles at the mongoose’s words, “That too.”

Raijin scurries ahead to the stairwell as Denki finishes clearing the lobby, her voice echoes throughout the staircase when he finally reaches the door, “This is kind of a small building! There’s only like six floors so we can meet at the third!” 

“Kay, remember to actually look though,” He can feel her eye roll even through the separated flight of stairs, “I’m not an amateur Denks!” 

“Yeah well you were!” 

“So were you!” And then her voice disappears with a laugh. It’s not like she’s wrong, Denki muses as he makes his way up to the first floor. 

He’s a third year now, something he wasn’t even sure would be possible a couple years ago. Between the entirety of his class’ first year, the literal war, and his calculus class, well the future wasn’t always so clear for them. But now, Denki can’t help but feel like his class has made it, especially when they all get called out together for large missions like this. Proper hero hopefuls indeed. 

~~~

Denki finishes clearing the first and second floors quickly before preparing to move on to the third. 

He moves up the stairs two at the time when Raijin’s voice calls out to him from higher up, “Chargebolt I’ve got a civilian on the fourth floor! She’s young too!” 

“Got it!” Denki quickens his pace, skipping the third floor entirely and making a beeline for the fourth. 

He opens the stairwell door to another office space, cubicles lining the floor much like they had on the second floor. He ignores them, jogging for the three heat signatures that are congregated towards the back of the room. 

He pushes his glasses up as he catches sight of Raijin’s furry body, his daemon set up in front of one of the cubicles. He can read her caution and indecision in the stiffness of her spine and the twitching of her tail, the seriousness in her eyes that don’t so much as flicker towards Denki as he approaches. 

He decides to announce himself first, “Hello? My name’s Chargebolt, I’m a hero tasked with evacuating this area. Is everything okay?” 

“Go away!” A girl’s voice calls out in slightly broken Japanese. Raijin was right, she really does sound young. 

He moves to the cubicle’s opening, telegraphing his footsteps as best he can. There’s a young horned girl curled up underneath the desk, Denki figures she can’t be more than twelve. 

She’s got a bright pink Hello Kitty backpack that he’s sure his younger sisters would love, but more attention grabbing is her daemon, which has posted itself in between the hero pair and its human. The cobra is large, hissing at Denki and his daemon aggressively, clearly trying to intimidate the two of them. 

The blond side eyes his own daemon, who hasn’t left her unnaturally still and quiet state. The girl’s daemon explains the reasoning for that at least, normally Raijin woud be trying to chat up a storm, but snake daemons aren’t exactly fans of her at the best of times. 

Denki turns to his daemon, “Rai why don’t you sweep floor three, I didn’t get a chance to before I heard you call.” His daemon nods before running off, leaving Denki alone. 

He crouches down so that he’s on the girl’s level, still far enough away that her daemon hopefully won’t get pissy,“Hey it’s alright, I’m not going to hurt you, I’m a hero!” The girl shakes her head, muttering another broken sentence that Denki can’t fully parse. 

He takes a deep breath before deciding to speak in the only other language he knows fluently, praying that the accent he detected earlier was actually English. 

He repeats his sentence, watching her head lift up in relief, “You speak English?”  

Denki nods with a chuckle, “So do you! I’m a hero that’s evacuating this area right now, we’ve got a mean villain on the way. Are you with one of your parents? ” 

The girl sniffles, pulling her daemon back to her chest as its form shifts into a mouse, “I’m with my dad. Mom’s still back in America .”

Denki reaches out to her in sympathy, “Why don’t you tell me what’s wrong while we head to where your dad is? ” The girl nods shakily before grabbing his hand. 

He pulls her up easily, switching his comm to his group’s channel, “Froppy do you read me?” 

“I read you, kero. What do you need Chargebolt?” 

“I’ve got a young girl in the office building on block two. I think her dad works here. Wait sorry, give me a second-” He squeezes the girl’s hand before looking down, “Where are my manners? My name’s Chargebolt, and yours? ” 

The girl grabs her bag with a shy smile, “It’s Ava. Ava Tanaka. ” 

Denki nods with a smile, before going back to his comm, “Her name’s Ava Tanaka, and I’m sure her dad’s worried sick, could you make sure he knows she’s alright for me?” 

“I’ll find him, kero. Make sure you get out of there quick.” 

He shoots back an affirmative before switching back to his private channel, “So what’s got a pretty girl like you hiding in a lame office like this? ” He hefts her into his arms, letting the girl rant as he moves swiftly towards the stairs. 

Denki learns that she only just moved to Japan from America about a month ago, hence her lack of mastery over the language, and that most of her classmates have been making fun of her for being part foreigner. But the real kicker is that her mom can’t come over to Japan for another three months, that’s why her dad let her come to work with him today. Talk about bad luck. 

He reunites with Raijin in the stairwell, as relieved to see his daemon as he always is, “Please tell me the third floor was empty Rai.” 

His daemon snorts, “As a ghost town Charge.” 

His private channel pings, diverting his attention away from his daemon, “Chargebolt here.” 

Aizawa’s voice rings out immediately, “The villain’s on a straight path for sector three. Froppy informed me that you’ve got a civilian with you, we need you out of there now  Chargebolt.” 

Denki curses, “10-4 boss!” 

There’s not enough time to sign the situation to Raijin, or even switch off his comm, instead he takes off running. Raijin is quick to join him, not asking questions even as Ava shrieks in his arms. 

They make it to the first floor door when Denki feels the building start to shake. 

“Shit!” He throws the door open with his shoulder, remembering the large sturdy conference tables that had made up the majority of this floor. Then, the building’s coming down. 

Their shrieks blend together as Denki stretches forward, throwing the girl in his arms towards one of the tables and praying she makes it. He sprawls out on his own stomach with a thud, throwing his arms over his head like a prayer. 

It feels like the entire building is collapsing, and at some point Denki cries out in pain as a large weight lands on his right leg. He feels smaller pieces of debris land on his arms and back, but he ignores it as he focuses on his breathing, trying desperately to not pass out. 

Thankfully, the artificial earthquake doesn’t last too much longer. He swears to himself for a few moments, trying to ignore the fiery pain creeping up his body. 

The blond lifts his head, ignoring the debris that slides off his back at the movement, “Is everyone okay? Ava, you made it under the table right? ” 

Raijin’s voice calls back to him, “Ava’s fine! We all made it under the table, and I’m not seeing any injuries.” Denki’s shoulders relax at his daemon’s words with a sigh. 

He can see the table they’re both residing under, it’s only a couple feet away from where his own sprawled body had landed. 

“Are you okay, Chargebolt? ” Ava’s voice is timid, and she’s holding on to her cat form daemon like a particularly squeezable plushy. 

He throws her one of his most winning smiles and a thumbs up, “I’m a-okay! Nothing I haven’t dealt with as a hero before! ” The girl looks sufficiently comforted, which is good, because Denki is most decidedly NOT a-okay. 

He looks back over his shoulder at his right leg, and while he can definitely tell it’s super broken, that’s not exactly the most worrying part. There’s a huge fuck-off wooden beam and only slightly smaller slabs of concrete piled on top of it. There’s no way Denki or Raijin are going to be able to move it. Maybe he could get Ava’s daemon to shift into something bigger, but he’s really not keen on moving either of them out from the relative safety of the table. 

He switches his comm on to the general channel, prepared to request assistance, only to be met with silence. He tries it a couple more times to be sure, checking the other channels only to be met with that same uncanny silence. 

Okay. 

His comms are down, he’s pinned in place, and he’s got a civilian that really needs to not be here right now. Denki pushes down the now very familiar panic and tries to remind himself it could be worse. He could also be dealing with a villain. 

Raijin scampers to his side, taking in his injured leg with quick flicks of her eyes, as she leans herself on his shoulder, “Are your comms down?” 

He nods slightly, noticing how her coat fluffs in slight panic. It’s a lot more subdued than it was their first year though, so at least there’s that. 

His voice is soft when he speaks, despite the fact he knows Ava can’t exactly understand him, “You’re gonna have to run and grab someone to move this fucking beam off me. I think Ei and Hanta were stationed in sector two, and Bree would make quirk work of this shit,” He throws a thumb over his shoulder, pointing at the debris with a waggle of his eyebrows. 

Raijin laughs, which is what Denki was aiming for, “Alright, I’ll be back as soon as I can with one hunk of a grizzly bear!” He wishes her luck as she scrambles for the somehow miraculously intact stairwell. 

Denki looks at his leg again, concluding that yeah, Ei’s giant of a bear would make easy work of this. 

He turns to look at Ava as Raijin disappears, ignoring the twinge of worry that comes with his daemon’s absence, “Don’t worry, my leg’s just stuck under something! Raijin’s going to go get one of my bigger friends! ” 

Ava seems more curious than worried, “Doesn’t that hurt? ” 

Denki shakes his head, “I’m a hero remember? We train to move long distances from our daemons, ” The little girl’s eyes widen in awe, making Denki chuckle. 

He doesn’t tell her the whole truth of course. Most civilians get…squeamish about the fact heroes are expected to Separate from their daemons, and it’s not like he’s lying. Denki did have to train before their Separation, not as much as some of his peers, but train all the same. 

“Raijin might be small, but she’s a force to be reckoned with when it matters. Your daemon’s cobra form was really scary too, what’s his name? ” He turns to the cat still laying in her arms, smiling gently. 

The longer he can keep Ava distracted with conversation and not panicking the better, “This is Othello. ” 

Denki perks up in actual interest, “You look a little too young to be reading Shakespeare, he’s got a lovely name though! ” 

Ava blushes, “Mom’s an English teacher back home. She liked to read to me whenever I was upset …” Quieter she adds, “... and I’m not that young. I’m ten .” 

Denki tries not to laugh, she’s even younger than he thought. His little sister Anzu is that age, “Well she’s got good taste. I always liked the English classics! ” 

Ava takes a second to look at him, scrutinizing and assessing him with a squint of her eyes. It’s funny coming from a girl eight years his junior. 

“How come your English is so good? I’ve been learning Japanese for a month and I’m only getting worse! ” Her daemon shifts back into a snake, wrapping himself around her in the facsimile of a hug. 

Denki thinks for a moment, “Can you keep a secret? ” 

Denki has learned from dealing with his younger siblings that “secret” is the real magic word. He’s glad to see it works on Ava too as she nods eagerly, “I was born in Japan, but I lived in America for a couple years as a kid. Then my family moved back to Japan when I was even younger than you! And when I came back to Japan, my accent was so bad everyone at school would make fun of me. We’re basically the same, you and I. ” 

Ava’s definitely looking at him with awe now. He decides to keep going, “The first year sucked, but it really did get better, and now I’ve got more friends than I know what to do with! ” 

Ava huffs, “It still sucks.” And Denki sighs because yeah, it does suck. 

They sit in silence for a few minutes before Denki feels the building start to shake again. 

He curses, “Ava I need you to stay under that table okay? Curl up so that you’ve got your arms over your head, and keep Othello close to you! ” He watches her follow his instructions, her eyes closed tight in a grimace. 

Denki moves to do the same, ignoring the way his leg protests as he tries to make a smaller target. It feels like the building is coming down around them for a second time, he’s grateful that the floor, at least, is remaining intact. 

He grunts when he feels something heavy come down on his left shoulder, a slight crack sounding out, announcing what must be his second broken bone of the day. 

He estimates that their second artificial earthquake dies down about five minutes later. 

Hopefully Deku and Uravity are able to corral the villain back into a different sector before Denki and Ava have to make the move towards basecamp. 

He rolls his shoulder, dislodging the newer piece of wood with a hiss. Yeah, something’s definitely broken. 

“You alright Ava? ”

 “Uh huh! ” Denki sighs in relief, at least one thing’s going right. 

A few feet to his left, it looks like the entire ceiling has caved in, if he’d been just a bit closer…Denki gulps. Okay, so maybe a few thing’s have gone right for him today. 

He’s contemplating his rediscovered mortality when he hears a familiar voice, he blinks in relief, “I couldn’t find Eijirou and Bree, but I’ve got someone better!” 

Denki smiles as he sees Raijin’s body scamper into the room, immediately nuzzling his forehead in comfort. 

“Do tell me what’s better than our bodybuilder friend and his strong ass daemon, at the very least I could’ve used some eye candy right now,” Raijin laughs at him, “Right cause that’s who you’d pick for eye candy. Not a certain buff explosive blond?” 

Denki sighs, “If only his costume was shirtless too. Hey maybe that’s how we boost his approval rating once we graduate! Not that Kacchan would go for it.” 

“If you asked I’m sure Katsuki would consider it,” Denki stiffens as he realizes just who Raijin brought back for help. 

The African lioness pads into the room with the regality of an apex predator, her silhouette cutting a figure of pride and confidence. The one and only daemon of Bakugou Katsuki. 

Denki smiles up at her, ignoring his embarrassment, “Hey Aza, fancy meeting you here. Kacchan’s not behind you is he? And exactly how much of that did you catch?” 

The lion snorts, “Katsuki’s busy evacuating extras in sector two, and you think that dumbass lug of a daemon could rescue you better than me?” 

So she’d heard all of it. That’s cool, super cool even, super super cool, at least Bakugou wasn’t around to hear that. 

Raijin laughs at the look on his face, and he goes to smack her. He realizes a second too late that, yeah his shoulder is STILL broken and aborts the motion with a yelp. 

Both daemons look at him in concern, which Denki chuckles at sheepishly, “Of course Bree’s not better than you Aza! I just thought you and Kacchan would be too busy to white knight for little ol’ me.” The lion in question doesn’t bother responding, looking over his body with a critical eye. 

Denki turns towards Ava, chuckling at the stunned expression on her face, it’s not everyday you get to see a lion daemon after all. 

“This is my friend’s daemon Aza, she’s about as brave and strong as they come. We’ll be getting out of here in no time! ” He pauses, looking over to the daemon and back to Ava as if sharing a secret, “Don’t tell her I said this, but she’s also secretly a major softie. ” 

Ava giggles, looking at the lion with admiration in her eyes. 

Denki turns to his own daemon, “What’s the situation outside?” 

“We saw Deku and Uravity apprehend the villain on our way over. Looks like it’ll just be a ton of clean up for everyone once we get back.” 

Denki nods at her, tilting his head so that he can look at Aza over his shoulder, “Not that I’m doubting your power or anything, but you can get that off my leg right?” 

Having Aza’s full attention is not for the weak of heart, sometimes it feels like she’s staring right into the depths of his soul. 

This time, however, it’s not exactly a bad thing. There’s really nothing like a 150 kg lion to make people feel safe. 

“You really are an idiot, you know that?” The lion growls it out, but Denki just rolls his eyes, “Yes yes you and Kacchan never stop reminding me, but I kept the girl safe and that’s what really matters.” 

The lion growls out another idiot before she crouches down at his leg. She pushes the miscellaneous debris off before latching onto the beam with her jaw. She lifts it up with ease before dropping it to the side with a crash. 

Denki exhales in relief, he hadn’t realized how much energy he was using ignoring the pain until it had disappeared entirely. He pushes himself up using his right arm, trying to ignore the white hot bolts of pain shooting up through his leg. 

He manuevers himself until he’s leaning on Ava’s table, weight on his left leg and right arm as much as he can. 

“Alright Ava you ready to get out of here and back to your dad? ” 

The horned girl scrambles out from under the table, “Super ready! ” 

Denki laughs, resisting the urge to ruffle her hair. The young girl inhales a sharp breath as she takes in his broken leg, “Don’t worry about it sweetheart, I’ve had way worse than some little broken leg. ” 

He’s not even lying, “Here if you wanna help- ” 

Denki tries to manuever himself so that she’s on his right side and can take some of his weight. Instead, there is suddenly a lion standing between the two of them. 

Denki stares in confusion, “Uh Aza?” Bakugou's daemon doesn’t say anything. 

Denki looks at Raijin, but she just smirks back amused, which is seriously not helpful to Denki right now. 

When the lion finally speaks her voice is nearly as gruff as her human’s, “You’re not going to be able to get anywhere on that leg. Especially not down the flight of stairs to the lobby. I’ll carry you on my back.” Denki stares at her with his jaw dropped. 

It’s one thing for Aza to run to his rescue, they’re all heroes after all. Friends too, if you ignore the absolutely pathetic crush Denki’s had on her human since they were sixteen. This though, Aza allowing Denki to touch her that’s, that’s just- Denki doesn’t even know what to do with that. 

He splutters, “I can’t do that! Kacchan’s not even here- it’d be super violating! That’s just, I can’t believe you’d even suggest that!” 

The lion rolls her eyes, “Don’t be dramatic. Katsuki heard Raijin’s spiel earlier, he knew what this dumbass rescue mission could entail.” 

Denki remains flabbergasted, “Still! Kacchan’s not exactly the best at contact training, what if this distracts him while he’s doing something actually important!” 

Raijin chimes in sarcastically, “Right because getting you and Ava back to base doesn’t matter whatsoever?” 

Denki glares at his daemon, “Whose side are you on?” 

Raijin scurries up Aza’s leg and onto her back, meeting his glare with one of her own, “The side that is going to get you out of here safely obviously! You’re just being stubborn about this.” 

The lion cuts them off before an actual argument can start, “I have explicit permission to touch those in need during missions from Katsuki, and he knows how to take care of himself.” 

Unlike you goes unsaid, but it has Denki deflating where he stands. 

“This just doesn’t feel right,” he doesn’t mention the fact that he has thought about touching Aza. Countless nights he’s spent imagining the weight of Bakugou’s soul in his hands, usually after some dramatic romantic confession. Not like this. Taking advantage of Bakugou’s heroic desires to be the best. Aza acknowledges his feelings with a nod of her head, but Raijin seems determined to ignore them, maybe because she’s heard him rant about this very thing for hours on end. 

He looks away from them, realizing Ava’s probably extremely lost trying to listen to their conversation. 

“Raijin, why don’t you lead the way with Ava, Aza and I will take up the rear, ” He turns towards the horned girl, confident in the fact his daemon will listen to him, “ Since my leg’s hurt, I’m gonna follow you on Aza here alright? ” 

He can’t tell if she’s weirded out by the fact he’ll be touching someone else’s daemon, but she does give him a determined look as she moves over to his daemon. 

Denki hesitates, unable to bring himself to actually lay his hand down on Aza’s broad back. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, Aza takes the decision out of his hands and moves so that his right hand makes contact. 

They’ve all done daemon contact training of course, it’s a requirement of the hero course along with Separation training. It’s an area Denki excels at even, all that wrestling with his siblings’ daemons as a kid definitely paid off. So Denki’s touched the daemons of other heroes, his teachers, and he’s had Raijin touched by other people too. Most notably when he was almost killed by a villain during his internship last year. 

Touching Aza is nothing like anything he’s done before. 

His knees buckle as he’s overwhelmed by the sheer amount of emotions rushing through his body. It’s like he’s being branded by everything that makes Bakugou Bakugou . His passion, and aggression, and bravery; the gunpowder to Denki’s spark, setting off explosions that shake him down to his very bones. He feels like a dry log set ablaze, afraid to let go but afraid to be hollowed out. 

He shakes himself out of it, tries to remember his training as he motions Aza into crouching. The lion seems slightly dazed as he tries to shimmy himself onto her back, doing his best not to jostle his hurt bones and groaning when he fails. 

When he’s finally situated, Aza seems to have regained her normal composure as she stands to her full height, though he can still feel the way she shudders underneath his palms. The lion turns to follow the rest of their party; her gait jostles his bad arm and leg, but he does his best to keep himself quiet. 

Raijin’s coat is fluffed up as she leads the four of them down the stairs and out into the lobby, which looks about as fucked up as the floor they just came from, but the doors are unblocked at the very least. 

They make it out and onto the street in record time, Ava and Denki taking a moment to just breathe in the clean air. It’s quiet as they walk, their base camp still about thirty minutes out of the way. 

Denki looks down at Ava, she seems to be getting more and more nervous as they walk, Othello switching forms once every few minutes. 

“What are you so nervous for? ” His voice must startle her because she jumps to the side in surprise. 

She looks at him sheepishly after a moment, “I guess I just- ” She pauses, “I don’t wanna go back to normal life. Today was scary, but you’re the nicest person I’ve met in Japan so far. ” 

Denki tries to ignore the way her words almost bring him to tears. He takes the girl in, her bright pink bag and her nervously shifting daemon, and she reminds him so much of his younger siblings it hurts. 

Suddenly, Denki is struck with an actually brilliant idea, he’s sure even Kacchan would agree, “Ava do you have a marker in that bag of yours? ” The ten year old looks at him confused, but rifles through her bag for a second before nodding. 

She pulls out a purple marker, and Denki smiles so wide his cheeks hurt, “Alright now write these down on your arm! ” 

He lists off his number, double checking to make sure she gets all the digits right, before repeating the process with Anzu’s number, “That first one is my personal number, so if anyone bullies you or you’re ever upset, you can call me. Heck, you can call me if you just want someone to read Shakespeare with! ” 

He listens to her giggle with a fond smile on his face, “That second number is my little sister Anzu’s. She’s ten too, and her English is pretty good. She’s a really nice kid, so I thought if you ever want to practice your Japanese she’d be a perfect candidate! Don’t worry, I’ll tell her about you as soon as this mission’s over, she’ll be honestly delighted to have a new friend. ” 

He watches as Ava tries to discreetly wipe away her tears, ruffling her hair as they finally come upon the evacuees section of their base camp, “Now I think someone’s excited to see you. ” 

He glances over to a man with horns that’s standing next to Tsuyu, his ram daemon shifting nervously from side to side. 

“Daddy! ” Ava’s in his arms a few seconds later, the girl ranting a mile a minute about the adventure she’s been on. 

Denki sags so hard he nearly falls off Aza, “Thank god they’re both okay.” 

“Should you really be giving your number out to people like that?” Aza’s face looks stern, but her voice sounds almost…fond to Denki’s ears. 

“Totally worth it, and I wasn’t lying about Anzu being excited about a new friend,” The lion just grunts in reply, but it feels like approval. 

Just then Raijin scrambles to join him on top of Aza, planting herself on the lion’s head with a smirk, “Don’t look now but I think we’ve got our first classmate’s reaction the fact you’re riding Aza like a steed returning from battle.” 

Denki groans but straightens up as Tsu approaches them, “Hey Froppy, sorry my comms went out, thanks for sticking with Mr. Tanaka while I got Ava out.” 

She doesn’t verbally respond, just nodding in response while taking in his broken leg and his spot atop Bakugou’s notoriously touchy daemon. 

When she finally makes eye contact with him there’s something like surprise and maybe respect in hers, “Glad to see you’re okay Chargebolt. I can take you to Aizawa-sensei for a quick debrief if you’d like before you see Recovery Girl, kero.” 

He breathes a sigh of relief at her careful non reaction. This is why he loves Tsuyu, she’s probably one of the only people in their class that wouldn’t immediately spread this throughout the entire camp. 

“That would be great Tsu,” She nods and starts walking him towards wherever Aizawa-sensei has posted up, her poison dart frog daemon makes small croaking sounds as they walk, prompting Raijin to engage him in conversation. 

The two daemons chatter until they approach Aizawa, Tsuyu announcing she can finally go help with the clean up effort as she hops off. 

Denki waves at him with a smile, “Hey teach! The girl is completely uninjured and safe, call that a successful mission or what?” 

His teacher merely raises a singular eyebrow, taking in Denki’s broken leg, the shoulder he’s holding gingerly at his side, and the fact he’s currently riding a lion with only the barest hint of a sigh, “Five minute debrief and then you’re going straight to Recovery Girl, no detours.” 

Denki throws up a salute, “Sure thing boss man!” 

The man looks up to the sky as if asking for strength, his black cat daemon snorting at his feet. 

Denki gives a quick rundown of everything that happened, with Raijin chiming in whenever he forgets an important piece of information. Aza doesn’t say much, except to explain how she got dragged into saving him, but soon enough Aizawa-sensei is sending the three of them on their merry way. 

“You know I think he was almost proud of me there by the end.” 

Aza snorts, “You got that from the numerous times he cursed you out under his breath?” 

“No but Kuro-sensei seemed pretty approving! So I’m counting it as a win.” 

“Please that mini-cat just thought it was amusing,” Denki huffs but is cut off by Raijin’s voice, “Who cares about the debrief! I just want to see how people are going to react to Denki’s new ride!” 

Denki shrugs, suddenly aware of the stares burning into him from all sides, “Mina’s gonna be super jealous, she’s been begging to ride Aza since our first year.” 

Raijin bobs up and down in her excitement, “Imagine Midoriya’s face! I bet he literally passes out when he hears!” That image has Denki laughing hard enough that it hurts; he even catches Aza chuckling underneath her breath. 

When Denki finally calms down he’s leaning his forehead against Aza’s neck, running his fingers slowly through her fur. 

This might be the last time, the only time he ever gets to touch Bakugou’s soul so intimately, he doesn’t want to let it go to waste. 

It’s not as overwhelming as it was earlier, less like a raging forest fire and more like a bonfire. The gunpowder and fireworks no longer shaking him to his core but still going off all the same. He feels like he’s holding a star in his palms, and that sense of responsibility, of being trusted, takes Denki’s breath away. 

He wonders what it would feel like to be cradled in Bakugou’s palms. If his grip on Raijin would be rough, like how he approaches so many of the people in their lives, or if it would be gentle, something special for just the two of them. 

There’s something dangerous in his desire for Bakugou to hold his soul close. Between palms that bleed poison and explode with a bang, palms that hurt, and protect, and save. 

There’s a soul between Denki’s hands after all, hands that spark with the ability to numb, and taze, and kill. He wants to reciprocate so badly it hurts. He makes eye contact with Raijin, and she’s got a knowing glint in her eye that makes him want to hide himself away. 

Denki turns away, not wanting her to say anything while he is Literally still on top of Bakugou’s daemon, “I’m going to sleep for at least four hours once I get to Recovery Girl, today has been way too fucking much for my heart.” 

Raijin giggles at him, “Well prepare yourself because it’s about to get worse.” 

Denki chances looking at her again, “The only possible way today gets worse is if a meteor literally landed in camp within the next 5 seconds, and the probability of that is infinitesimally small.” 

That’s when the sound of the explosions he’s been hearing actually connect in his brain, and four seconds later Bakugou Katsuki is landing in front of Denki and Aza with a boom. 

For a moment neither of them say anything, Denki, frozen, most definitely blushing on Bakugou’s daemon; Bakugou, scowling like usual, taking in Denki’s injuries with an intensity that almost makes him shiver. 

Predictably, Denki breaks first, trying to move off of Aza as he ramble, “Kacchan I am SO sorry for touching Aza, but my leg is super fucked up, and she was really insistent, and I know it was super shitty. I’ll get off right now, don’t even worry about it. You know what- we never even have to talk about this again, hell we don’t even have to think about it ever again! We can let this incident fade into obscurity, like that time Mina and I-” 

Aza snarls as he tries to get off her back, the pain in his leg and arm pulling his face into a grimace. 

Bakugou’s by his side in an instant, manhandling him so that he’s still squarely situated on his daemon’s back, “Don’t be fucking stupid Dunce Face. You’re not fucking walking on that leg; Recovery Girl’s tent isn’t even far, I can deal with your grubby fucking hands on my lion for another five minutes.” 

Denki nods, still feeling guilty, especially after he spies the tension in Bakugou’s spine and the redness on his neck. Denki must’ve been making him so uncomfortable the whole time. 

“Seriously Bakugou. I get that we’re heroes, and I’m grateful that Aza got to be my knight in shining armor-” Both lion and human snort, “But I know it’s uncomfortable for you, like seriously I can really just make the walk to Recovery Girl’s tent at this poi-” 

Bakugou cuts him off this time with the ignition of his palms, “Cut that shit out Sparky you’re sounding like the shitty nerd with all your apologies. I don’t fucking care that your touching my daemon, I literally gave her permission to touch you when your fucking rat came around looking for Shitty Hair.” 

Denki blinks at him in surprise, but Raijin’s already barking at him not to call her a rat. 

The two of them bicker for a few moments before Bakugou’s turning back to Denki, “Me and Aza don’t do shit we don’t want to do, but if you still feel guilty for no fucking reason , you can just pay me back.” 

The explosive blond’s eyes flick to Raijin towards the end of his sentence, and for a second Denki is just staring at them in confusion before it hits. He feels like the wind has been knocked out of him, his eyes widening as he realizes just what Bakugou is hinting at. 

Raijin seems to realize it too as she pops up on her hind legs, staring at Denki with a smug smile on her face. Aza’s shoulders shake, and Denki realizes it’s because she’s trying to hold in her laughter. 

Bakugou turns away from them, facing forward once he sees that they’ve all connected the dots, “...and stop calling me by my family name. It’s fucking weird with your hands on my soul.” 

Denki perks up, “Is that explicit permission to call you Kacchan then?!” 

“Hell fucking no!” The explosive boy barks. 

They arrive at Recovery Girl’s tent at that moment, Denki throwing his good arm around the other blond’s shoulders as he tries to slide off Aza without any pain. It only kind of works with Denki stifling a groan as he gets his legs underneath him. 

The lack of connection with the lion is disorienting as the two boys stumble together. Denki can’t help it, he leans into the other boy's side as they walk into the tent, stumbling towards the first open cot they see. Raijin beats him there, curling up on his pillow as if it’s her own private bed. 

“Thanks Katsuki” he barely says it, coming out of his mouth more like a whisper.

 He watches as the red on Katsuki’s neck crawls up to his ears, but the boy just grunts, helping Denki on to the cot almost gently. 

“Recovery Girl should be around here somewhere, I’ll go find the old hag,” before he can leave Denki grabs at his hand, pulling him to a stop. 

Katsuki’s face is sharp as he turns to face him, but he doesn’t look angry or even uncomfortable, instead there’s something in his eyes that Denki hasn’t seen before. Their normal stony glint more akin to an ember than a gem, not softer or anything, just…different. 

Denki smiles up at him, “You’ve got a really beautiful soul Katsuki, it’s comforting. Makes people feel safe like a real hero’s.” 

Katsuki just blinks down at him for a moment, completely frozen before he shirks off his grip, stomping off without a word. Presumably to find Recovery Girl. 

Raijin bursts into laughter as soon as he leaves, “Ohhoh my god you totally just gave him a heart attack! When did you get so bold Denks!” 

The boy shrugs, ignoring the heat he can feel on his face. He doesn’t know what just came over him. ‘You have a beautiful soul’ really? That’s the best he could do? 

He flops on to the other side of the pillow with a groan, “Rai I am literally such an embarrassment. I’m never gonna hear the end of it am I?” Her evil giggles are enough of an answer for him. 

Recovery Girl and her cobra daemon both greet him with sighs of disappointment a few minutes later, Katsuki lurking in the back, “Will you kids ever learn? I swear your whole class is more accident prone than All Might himself!” 

Denki chuckles sheepishly, “Sorry ma’am, promise I didn’t do it on purpose or anything!” 

Katsuki snorts to himself, making Denki grin in pride, “Oh just hold still.” 

He feels her kiss his forehead, her quirk rushing through his body, and then everything goes black. 

~~~

Denki wakes up to Raijin’s body curled up on his chest, her soft snores filling the space of the otherwise empty medical tent. The lights are dimmed, and by the heaviness in his limbs he estimates that it’s been several hours since he was last awake. It makes sense, he did say he was going to sleep for at least four hours once he made it to Recovery Girl. 

He strokes at Raijin’s back, waiting patiently as her beady black eyes slowly open, blinking dazedly at him once she seems more awake. 

She looks around slowly, taking in the empty tent, “No lover boy?” 

Denki snorts, “Don’t call him that Rai.” 

The mongoose scoffs at him, rolling so that she’s on her back, waving her paws in the air, “Please did you see how he was looking at you? He was blushing throughout your whole interaction!” 

Denki rolls his eyes, “I was literally touching his daemon for most of that, that’s circumstantial evidence at best” 

“Well what about the fact that he obviously wants to touch me too? Is that normal Bakugou Katsuki behavior?” 

Denki shrugs, “You heard him, he said he wanted me to “pay him back”. Maybe it’s just transactional for him.” 

Raijin rolls back over so she’s on her feet, making direct eye contact with him, “You’re being obtuse on purpose. Katsuki doesn’t just let people touch Aza, hell Aza barely lets daemons touch her! You think it’s coincidental that he let you touch Aza AND told you to call him by his first name? Just cause you can be stupid doesn’t mean you have to be an idiot Denks!” 

Denki doesn’t respond, they’ve had this argument before, more times than he can count actually. 

Raijin rolls her eyes, probably clocking that he’s going to be stubborn about this, “Just because you think he’s “out of your league” and that there’s “no possible way he likes you back” doesn’t mean that’s the actual reality! Stop counting yourself out of the running before the race has even started!” 

“Even if he does like me back, which I doubt,” Denki adds with a scowl, “There’s still no way he’d actually want to date me. I’m too clingy and annoying, he’d get sick of me in like a week!” 

His daemon groans, “We are NOT doing this again. It’s too early after waking up.” With that she jumps off his bed, running out of the tent without so much as a backwards glance. 

Denki rolls his eyes, she's probably off to bother Ripley and Washi, assuming Mina and Hanta are back at camp at least. They think they're so slick, but Denki’s known about their daemons’ betting pool since they moved into the dorms their first year. 

He forces himself up into a sitting position now that there's no longer a daemon lying on his chest. He stretches his arms above his head, pleased at the absence of pain in his left shoulder. He rolls it a few more times, testing its mobility until he's satisfied. 

His right leg is still aching, albeit nowhere near as badly as it had been before Recovery Girl worked her magic. He throws the flimsy little blanket covering his legs to the side, unsurprised when he spies the boot covering his foot from toe to mid thigh. 

He wiggles it around a bit, noting when the pain moves from a dull ache to sharp hiss. All in all he's fairly certain it'll come off within the next two weeks. Past experience says he's going to be benched from super active field missions, which he can't help but pout at. 

He's trying to stand up when Recovery Girl walks in. 

He freezes, trying not to look like a little kid who got stuck with their hand in the cookie jar, and fails if the look on her face is anything to go on. 

“I wasn't getting up, I was just going to sit on…the floor instead?” 

The unimpressed face she makes at his, quite frankly horrible excuse, is enough to have him sweating like Kacchan on a hot day. 

“Haha...sorry-?”

She lectures him for what feels like forever about proper injury care and how every hero is “a worthless self sacrificial martyr who needs a babysitter 24/7”. Honestly he's pretty sure most of that was directed towards their resident chronic rule and bone breaker, but he still smiles and nods when it's called for. 

Eventually she leaves with a, “Boot comes off in two weeks, no field work until then!” Which leaves Denki where he is now, confined to a bed without his daemon and throwing sparks between his fingers for some semblance of entertainment. 

When Aza and Katsuki burst in with matching snarls, Denki can't help but cheer in excitement. An angry Kacchan is a very entertaining sight indeed, “Aw Kacchan did you come because you knew I was about to die of boredom? That's so sweet of you!” 

Katsuki glares at the smile on his face as he moves to the back corner with a snarling Aza. Almost like they're…hiding from something? Or someone. Denki’s guess is a few particular someones. 

“Hiding from the squad Kacchan?” Katsuki’s growl isn't nearly as intimidating as he thinks it is. Denki’s prepared to poke the bear even harder just as the rest of their squad piles in, Raijin in the lead. 

“Bro Sensei told us about how you helped that girl, so manly!” 

“How the fuck did you manage to hurt yourself that badly on evac duty?! You weren't even dealing with the villain!” 

“I can't believe you got to ride Blasty’s lion! I've been begging him since our first year and Tooru said you just rode Aza into camp like a horse!” 

Denki doesn't bother replying to them, though he does catch Katsuki snort at Jirou’s words with a glare. The three of them go at it for another five minutes, overwhelming him completely with questions before Hanta finally jumps in, “Guys there's no fucking way he’s getting any of this, I'm barely catching every fifth word!” 

Denki cuts off the glaring contest he'd started with Kacchan, sure that he planned this somehow to beam at Hanta. 

“Thanks dude! How long was I out anyway? Recovery Girl came by like twenty minutes ago, but she spent the whole time lecturing at me because I tried walking,” Hanta grins, “You were asking for it dude but only about five hours. You didn't really miss much, Ei and I only got back from cleanup an hour and a half ago. Yami and Shin are still out there, so they'll probably come by later if you're still awake.” 

Katsuki grunts from the corner, “These fucking idiots haven't stopped pestering me since they found out you were injured. Acting like you were on your fucking deathbed or some other bullshit.” 

Mina pops up with a pout, “Not true! I was pestering you because Denki rode into camp on your lion! Seriously, why are we skipping past this!” Katsuki just rolls his eyes. 

Denki chuckles, petting the mongoose in his lap, “Hey wait where are your daemons?” 

Jirou twirls an ear jack between her fingers, “...We left them outside because we didn't want to overwhelm you…” 

Denki snorts, “Right because that went so well, just bring’em in already.” 

Ei pushes open the tent flap, allowing the four daemons to rush in. Unsurprisingly, Mina’s poodle Ripley is the first one in, bounding in before leaping for the bed, “Denks you're okay!! That's so great we were all so worried!!” His pink tail thumps against the side of the cot, narrowly missing Denki's good leg. 

Denki grins at his friend’s pink poodle (Mina swears it's natural. Denki is determined to catch her in the lie), “Thanks Ripley.” 

Jirou’s bat, Echo, flies in as Hanta’s spider monkey swings up onto the tall boy's neck. Echo lands on the girl’s shoulder before turning to Denki, “Glad to see you're okay Kaminari.” 

Raijin teases from his lap, “So formal. Especially when you two were so worried earlier.” The bat merely flicks his long ears, the movement reminiscent of Jirou’s own fidgeting earlier. 

Bree is the last one in, the large grizzly bear forcing Katsuki and Aza to move closer to the rest of the group. Raijin moves from her spot in Denki's lap to scramble on top of her shoulders, much to the amusement of the bear herself. 

Denki looks at the bear’s human slyly, “You know Ei I originally asked Rai to grab you two. I was hoping a strong hunk of a bear and his daemon would save me,” He pretends to swoon as the rest of the group laughs. 

Ei plays it up, laughing as he moves towards Denki's cot like a knight to his lord, “Bro. We would've carried you out of there like royalty.” 

Denki sniffs, “Bro.” 

“Bro.” 

“Br-” 

“Holy shit can you two stop being annoying for once in your life!” 

Ei grins over at Katsuki after his outburst, eyes twinkling with mischief, “Aw don't worry Brosuki we all know Aza did a great job getting our Pikachu back intact!” 

The redhead sends Denki a wink, “No need to get jealous. I'm sure Denks was happier to see Aza than me anyway.” 

The group starts laughing again as Katsuki launches himself at their resident redhead, “I'm NOT jealous dipshit!” 

Denki tries to deescalate the situation before actual explosions start flying instead of the current mini pops going off in the angry blond’s palms, “Well he's not wrong. Lion's are objectively cooler, sorry Bree.” 

The grizzly bear looks at him with laughter, “None taken.” 

Katsuki grumbles but backs down, resituating himself so that he’s next to the left side of Denki's cot, closer than the rest of their friends. 

Denki grins at him before turning to the rest of the group, ignoring Mina and Hanta’s knowing eyes, “Anyway I have no fucking clue what you guys were asking when you barged in here. I can just give you a recap though?” 

His friends all nod, minus Katsuki, who groans instead, “As if we want to hear this shit.” 

Denki's smile turns sharp, “Well you can always leave Kacchan.” The explosive boy glares down at him but doesn't make a move towards the door. 

Denki nods, “Yeah that's what I thought. Anyway, the evacuation was going great. I mean seriously, we didn't have a single problem during the first part. Really, the issue started when Raijin found this ten year old girl in an already evacuated building. Don’t get me wrong she was adorable-” 

Denki goes through the whole story, letting Raijin chime in whenever she likes. He makes sure to skim over his conversations with Ava, not willing to betray her trust like that. He doesn’t mention the fact he gave her his number either, mostly because that’s like, begging for a lecture. 

His friends all make their own comments, though the majority of them are “That’s so manly!” from Ei and “What an idiot” from Jirou. 

Everyone winces when he describes how his leg was pinned, so he brushes over it as best he can, Raijin taking over the story from there. She describes how she’d gone off looking for Bree, but had been immediately hounded by Katsuki when he'd seen her, coming back with Aza instead. 

“It’s funny,” the mongoose chirps, “Katsuki and Aza had this long five minute conversation after I gave them the sitch, wouldn’t let me hear a word they said.” 

The aforementioned pair glare at his daemon, but Denki blinks curiously at them, “Debating if I was worth it Blasty?” The boy growls, “Don’t be a fucking idiot Dunce Face, I get enough stupid questions during our tutoring sessions.” 

“Wow, our very own bastard admitting he wouldn’t leave our friend for dead. You’ve truly grown Bakubro,” Denki can hear the smirk in Hanta’s voice. 

Predictably, Katsuki takes the bait, “Oi, you wanna die Soy Sauce?”  

“What? You gonna kill me?” The familiar sounds of Katsuki’s explosions fill up the room, but they all know he’s long grown out of attacking them physically…most of the time that is. 

Jirou pipes up, “So glad Bakugou finally realized what feelings are, can we get back to the fact Denki was trapped in an unstable building with a ten year old while a villain rampaged close by?” Hanta chuckles sheepishly while Katsuki just grunts, crossing his arms as he turns away. 

“No need to pout Kacchan, you can always kill Hanta another time,” Denki pats the other blond on his arm, before picking the story up again. 

He does his best not to draw attention to the fact that yeah he touched Kacchan’s daemon, and that it was kinda the best thing that ever happened to him, but Mina and Hanta are both looking at him with twinkles in their eyes. Twinkles that say he’s getting cornered in the dorms within three to five business days. 

He ignores that, speeding through the rest of the story because he can feel the exhaustion of the day catching up to him. Even after his five hour nap courtesy of Recovery Girl. Raijin is basically nodding off on Bree’s shoulders as Denki brings it to a close, trying not to fall asleep himself. Katsuki moves away from the cot, causing Denki to startle. He hadn’t realized how hard he’d been leaning into him until the other boy had moved away. 

Katsuki scowls, “Alright everybody fucking out. Can’t you idiots fucking see that Sparky is about to fall asleep mid sentence?” 

Ei’s the first to move into action, “Message received, later bro! Hope you feel better tomorrow!” 

Denki waves to him lazily, Bree dropping his daemon down onto the cot before the two of them depart. Mina and Jirou say their own goodbyes, one much more subdued than the other, before Hanta waves himself out too. 

As soon as Denki sees Washi’s tale disappear out of the tent he sighs, letting himself melt into the cot even if it is slightly uncomfortable. He doesn’t remember when his eyes closed, but he slides them open once he realizes that he hasn’t heard Katsuki leave yet. 

The boy seems to be having a silent conversation with his daemon, the two glaring at each other before his eyes flicker over to Denki’s. 

The conversation must end then, considering Katsuki moves over to him with his token scowl, though it seems more plastered on than normal, “My bitchass of a daemon is refusing to leave your tent, so enjoy her company while it lasts.” 

The red ears from earlier are back, and Denki has the almost delirious thought that maybe Katsuki was the one who suggested this. 

“Aww Kacchan I’ll be alright, you don’t need to force Aza to babysit,” Denki grins, doing his best to stay awake. 

Katsuki scowls, “Shut the fuck up Sparks. I told you earlier, me and Aza don’t do things we don’t want to.” With that the boy goes to leave, completely unaware that he set Denki’s chest on fire with his words. 

As if it’s an afterthought Katsuki adds, “And no fucking touching this time. Not until you pay me back.” Denki doesn’t exactly bolt upright, but it’s pretty damn close. 

Katsuki’s stopped in front of the tent with one foot out the door, but the look he’s giving him has Denki’s breath catching in his throat. He tries really hard not to blush just from the sheer intensity in his eyes, “Wouldn’t dream about it Kacchan.” 

The other blond gives him one last nod, and then he’s gone, leaving Denki with only Aza and Raijin for the second time. 

“Rai what the fuck is even going on anymore,” His mongoose just grumbles, clearly still on the verge of falling asleep, “I don’t know just makeout next time…’d be less painful than this.” 

Denki doesn’t bother responding to her, “Night Aza, you’re my favorite now.” 

The lion snorts, but Denki’s too far gone to hear her reply, already falling into a peaceful oblivion. 

~~~

Despite how their most recent mission turned out, things feel almost normal between Denki and Katsuki as they return to their regular lives. 

Aza had been there when Denki woke up the day after the mission, but Katsuki hadn’t brought any attention to it. Instead he’d sat Denki down in their makeshift mess hall and basically force fed him breakfast. 

When they’d finally arrived back at the dorms later that day, Katsuki and Ei had helped him get his hero equipment situated before Katsuki had locked himself away in his dorm, citing the need to breathe “idiotless air” for the first time in two days. 

There’s been no notable shift in their dynamic, which leaves Mina and Hanta looking more disappointed day by day (not Denki though. Nope. He’s not disappointed at all). Though he’s been doing his best to avoid that specific dynamic duo, they’ve been hunting him down to talk about “feelings” since getting back to the dorms. 

Instead, Denki had gone to Jirou, asking her what she thought about the whole, “Katsuki acting normal situation.” The girl had just rolled her eyes, told him to be less of a “fucking idiot”, and then not so gently reminded him that they were together to jam and NOT gossip. 

Denki himself isn’t disappointed by the lack of change (no matter what Raijin says), if anything this just goes to show how much trust Katsuki has in him. So what if Denki’s crush isn’t being miraculously reciprocated? They still banter and bicker with each other. Katsuki is still tutoring him (along with Ei and Mina), he’s still bitching about making them food (and doing it anyway), and Denki is still annoying him into being an actual human being with a social life and friends. 

There’s also the fact that Denki hasn’t “paid him back” yet, but the longer Kacchan goes without bringing it up the more Denki thinks he must have misinterpreted it somehow. 

Normally this is where Denki goes to Mina and Hanta to completely dissect the interaction, but he’s still feeling a bit…vulnerable about the whole thing. He’s not necessarily ready to hash out the very overwhelming mix of emotions he has surrounding Katsuki and Aza, especially considering the fact that the human-daemon pair have been acting so normal about it all. 

So instead of doing anything productive like communicating, Denki’s been avoiding Mina and Hanta outside of group settings, gluing himself to Yami and Shouto whenever possible, even Katsuki when he can get away with it. 

At the very least the first two aren't the type to butt into Denki’s business like his fellow idiots, and Kacchan probably knows something’s up but doesn’t give a shit either way. 

Denki just needs to keep this up until he can get his feelings under control, or until Mina and Hanta surrender. 

~~~

Tragically, Denki’s downfall comes on the third Sunday after The Mission, as he’s been referring to the mission in his head. 

His boot’s been gone for about a week, and Recovery Girl officially approved him for field work once again. Not that he was doing anything like that today. No, instead he’d woken up this morning and decided to chill in his dorm for once. Tokoyami had let him borrow his copy of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and with his homework actually done (for once), Denki was itching to settle in and read. 

That’s exactly how Mina and Hanta find him hours later, bum rushing his door and locking it before he has the chance to so much as turn a page. The pair turn to him with the manic glee of a predator in their eyes, Denki their unwilling prey. 

He closes the book carefully, using a random half done homework sheet that was lying on the floor next to his bed as a bookmark, before placing it on his coffee table. With Tokoyami’s book safely put aside, Denki buries his face into one of his pillows and groans. 

“Should’ve locked your door~” Mina sing-songs.

 “Honestly it’s kinda sad that you were able to avoid us for a whole week but couldn’t remember to lock your door,” Denki can hear Hanta’s smirk, groaning into his pillow again before flipping him the bird. 

“C’mon man, no need to be so upset! We didn’t even jump you during squad night despite the fact Katsuki let you cling onto him during the jumpscares. We could’ve dragged you into this way earlier if we wanted to!” Denki pulls the pillow off his face, choosing to glare at the taller boy instead. 

Hanta shrugs unapologetically, his daemon copying the movement before jumping over to Denki’s already cluttered desk. Nosing through his notebooks and peaking at his barely held together folders. 

Ripley has already claimed a spot at the foot of his bed, Mina bouncing as she playfully glares right back at Denki, “Yeah! Plus yesterday you avoided us by joining Eiji AND Midoriya’s workout session. That’s so not cool babe we’re only here to help!” 

Denki’s face scrunches up at the girl’s words. Their idea of help isn’t exactly…helpful, not when it comes to his crush on their rage driven friend at least. 

Plus he hadn’t wanted to join Ei and Mido’s workout session yesterday, seriously he gets they’re all training to be heroes, but Saturdays are for actually fun things like going out or annoying Kacchan. 

Mina and Hanta hadn’t exactly given him a choice though. They’d been making eyes at him all day, secret glances shared between the two before throwing stern looks at him from across the common room. 

Denki’d only escaped it by holeing himself up in Kacchan’s dorm room, who had forced Denki to do schoolwork of all things, hence the pile of finished homework sitting in his bag right now. 

The impromptu tutoring session had been…nicer than Denki was expecting. Katsuki had even let Denki ramble about a bookseries he’d finished recently, something the angry blond only does when he’s feeling particularly tolerant of Denki’s antics. 

He’d left Kacchan’s room after three hours, saw Mina and Hanta gunning for him once he’d made it down to the kitchen, and then immediately turned to their resident redhead and asked if he could join him at the gym. 

Ei had seemed so excited that Denki almost felt guilty for using him to escape their other friends. Of course that guilt had quickly evaporated once they’d actually made it to the gym, and Denki had seen Midoriya’s jacked form starting on the weights. 

Between their romantic tension and Denki’s hatred of weight lifting those two hours had been more like torture than anything else the electric blond has experienced, and he fries his brain for a living. It’s the main reason Denki had decided to stay in and read today, curse his buff kind friends and their desire to help Denki become stronger. 

Of course he’s not about to let Mina and Hanta know that, “Maybe I just wanted to work out yesterday.” 

His friends won’t even do him the courtesy of pretending they believe him. Instead he’s met with not only two deadpan stares, but their daemons joining in with the judge fest! 

Denki whines, “Fineeeee. I was desperate, and it was fucking horrible. I woke up this morning and my entire body was crying out in pain. At least they both looked hot as fuck while they were torturing me with lateral raises.” 

They both nod along to his last statement, which is fair, Ei and Midoriya both have biceps blessed by the gods. 

“Alright, are you going to stop stalling? We’ve got business to attend to Denks! Romance Business!!” Mina flops down onto his bed as she speaks, making herself comfortable as she looks towards Denki expectantly. 

Surprisingly, the blond is saved from speaking by Washi’s voice, “Should we wait for Rai-Rai? I’m sure she’s got some ideas to share, plus I want to update our betting pool!” 

The four of them look to Denki for an answer, but he just shrugs, “She ran off when I started reading, so like three hours ago maybe? I think she might’ve said something about bothering Echo? Or maybe she ran off to the beach again.” The four of them chuckle, remembering a newly separated Raijin who had tried to run off to the beach and ended up locked out of their dorms at three am. 

His friends have all gotten used to Raijin and Denki’s independence at this point, though he still remembers how…odd everyone had found it their first year. It was understandable of course, most people never let their daemons more than a few feet away from their bodies at a time, but Denki and Raijin were never ones to completely follow the norm, hadn’t since they were young. 

They’d also been one of the first human-daemon pairs to separate too, right up there with Katsuki and Midoriya (the tryhards), but now that they’ve reached their third year almost all of his classmates have separated. 

There’s a few oddballs, like Shouto and Kouda, but Aizawa-sensei isn’t rushing them. Probably because he thinks the numerous villain attacks and literal war was incentive enough. It might be a requirement for becoming a hero, but they’ve still got another full semester before it’s a necessity. 

Hanta shrugs from his spot on the floor, “Well no need to track her down or anything. I’m sure she’ll be happy to get the breakdown from you two later anyway.” 

“Speaking of breakdown,” Mina grins at Denki obnoxiously, “You finally gonna talk about all your ooey gooey Blasty Boy feelings? We both know you’ve been tied up in knots since the mission.”

 Denki crosses his arms, “I haven’t been tied up in knots. Kacchan just doesn’t make any sense, like who gives their daemon permission to touch another person while they’re not even there!”

“Isn’t it better that way though? You weren’t going to be able to walk on that leg and this way you didn’t have to feel like you were doing something wrong,” Hanta’s got his hands linked behind his head, looking genuinely curious to hear Denki’s response. 

The blond shakes his head, aggravated, “It was going to feel wrong no matter what, even though Aza was the one who suggested and initiated it. Something like that is just so…” 

“Romantic?” 

“Uncomfortable?” 

Denki dismisses their suggestions with another shake of his head, “Intimate. Like- okay we’ve all touched Kuro-sensei before right? It’s weird but like, professional, you know?” 

They both nod, Hanta chiming in, “Yeah, and getting your daemon touched by a hero feels like, well, a job.” 

Mina groans, “PLEASE don’t tell me you made a big fucking deal about this only for it to feel exactly like training. You’re one of the best in class at daemon stuff too!” 

Denki frowns, rolling himself so that he’s staring up at his ceiling, “No that’s just it, touching Aza was like, SERIOUSLY overwhelming at first. Nothing like touching Kuro-sensei. It was like-” 

He furrows his brow in concentration, his large vocabulary failing him, “Like trying to hold an exploding star, or being trapped in a raging forest fire.” 

They both coo at him, making his cheeks heat up in a blush, “Oh fuck off. I got to ride an actual lion, which is more than either of you can say.” 

Hanta’s smirk is teasing, “Yeah but WE haven’t been crushing on Blasty for two years and refusing to do anything about it. Getting to touch Aza is a huge step!” 

Mina nods vigorously, “Exactly! It’s not like we enjoy watching you pine after him like a cowardly spineless loser-” 

Denki splutters, “That is so not fair!” 

Mina ignores him, continuing her sentence without pause, “and as jealous as I am about you getting to ride Aza, this is the most progress you’ve made with Bakubro since he stopped getting angry about you calling him Kacchan last year!” 

Denki groans, “Nothing’s even changed though. Katsuki’s acting completely normal about everything; it’s infuriating! Like, okay maybe I thought riding Aza into camp like a knight from the Middle Ages would’ve gotten our relationship somewhere , and then he just had to be all “Oh you can pay me back” but what does that even mean?! Does he want to touch Rai too then? Or did he just want to be paid back in general? Why the fuck hasn’t he said anything since then?!?”

 Mina jumps up with a squeal, “Wait what!! How come you haven’t said anything before this?!” 

Denki rubs a hand down his face, “Well at first I was certain he was talking about touching Rai, but then he just completely forgot about it. I mean we’ve been hanging out one on one a shit ton recently, but he hasn’t said a single word about it since we got back to the dorms. So at this point I must have misinterpreted it right? Like there’s no way Kacchan would be this…sheepish about touching my daemon.” 

Hanta sits up straight in his seat, “First off, holy fuck dude way to seriously bury the lead. I mean Bakubro even implying he wants to touch your daemon is basically a love confession!” 

“Uh, I wouldn’t go that far-” Denki’s cut off by Hanta’s voice once again, “Blasty’s fucking horrible at processing his emotions, we all know that. You’ve gotta give him time to deal with it on his own first Denks.” 

Denki sighs, “I just- I dunno anymore. When he said I could pay him back, I guess I just started to believe what you guys said about Kacchan reciprocating my feelings the ittiest bittiest amount. Now though it’s like nothing even happened.” 

Denki pulls at his hair, “It was stupid to think Kacchan could like me back, I mean he’s so far out of my league he’s existing in another galaxy. I’m just the idiot who annoyed him into letting me cling to his side.” 

Hanta throws his hands up, completely over it, “One of these days I’m going to actually make a powerpoint about why everything you said is completely fucking false, and you’re just going to have to sit through all 87 slides.” 

Mina narrows her eyes at the blond, “I can’t believe I have to listen to you say this bullshit when you’re the only one that gets to call him Kacchan, he cooks you food of his own free will, he let you touch his daemon, and NOW I’m learning that he wants to touch Raijin too! That’s basically proof of his reciprocation!” 

Denki waves her off, “Hello? Are we forgetting my leg was literally broken? Aza’s a hero too, she couldn’t exactly leave me there. Plus it’s not uncommon to want some sort of compensation for forcing him into that situation.” 

Hanta complains exasperatedly, “You literally just contradicted yourself in the same fucking sentence!” 

Denki ignores him, grumbling, “Whatever. Besides I would know if Kacchan had a crush; he’s not the type to hesitate about doing what he wants. If he actually liked me back, he definitely would’ve tried something by now.” 

Mina tilts her head, “Well emotions are something he’s struggled with since our first year. Maybe he’s taking his time so he actually does it right, he can be a meticulous bastard when he wants too.” 

“Or maybe he’s waiting for you to make the first REAL move. Big Bad Bakugou, scared of rejection. That would definitely be a sight to see.” 

Mina snorts, “Good point Hanta. I mean everyone’s aware that Denki’s a rejection handling pro. Seriously, that confession to Kyouka? You handled it so well.” 

Denki whines, “We promised to never talk about that again!!” 

The two of them put their hands up in surrender, and that’s when one of their daemons starts humming Emo Girl. All of them lose it, even Denki, laughing so hard that they only quiet for a few minutes before starting up again. 

Hanta giggles, “Maybe that’s what Bakugou’s waiting for, a patented Kaminari Denki confession to Bombshell Blonde.” 

Mina laughs harder at Denki’s suddenly bright red face, “No way you seriously considered that!” 

He buries his face in his palms, “It was a moment of weakness! …Plus I chickened out anyway….” 

Hanta moves so that he can rustle Denki’s hair, “Don’t be embarrassed man, it’s cute how much you care about our resident blasty boy.” 

“And we promise he cares about you too! He’s just taking his time showing it! He’ll be running over here to cuddle with Raijin in no time!” 

Denki smiles at the two of them, “Well I appreciate the support guys, even if I don’t believe you,” He chuckles sheepishly, “Also, sorry for avoiding you for like three whole weeks, kinda dramatic in hindsight.” 

Mina shrugs, “Yeah well you can make it up to us,” She winks. 

Denki shudders, “Why do I feel like my soul just got sold to the devil?” Hanta grins evilly before moving so that he can whisper with Mina and their daemons, pointedly sneaking evil glances at the electric blond. 

A minute later their conference is over, Mina jumping up with a shout, “Alright! Since you’ve been actually vulnerable for once we’ve decided to be kind!” 

Denki sighs in relief, “Oh thank god.” 

Hanta nods, “Yup. You’ve only got two conditions for our forgiveness. One, you hang out with us for the next couple hours, no crush talk necessary,” Denki brightens, “I can do that!” Hanta continues, “Two, when you and Bakubro finally get together you serenade him with Bombshell blonde in front of the entire squad, plus honorary members like Momo and Yami.” 

Denki falters, but he has treated his friends pretty badly recently, so he holds his hand out to shake, “Alright you’ve got yourself a deal, one hangout sesh today a non existent serenade coming right up.” 

The three of them shake on it before Denki completely deflates, melting into his bed as he stretches, “Can we finally talk about something else now? Like the fact that Ei and Mido are one good workout session away from attacking each other with their lips?” 

Mina cackles and Sero falls backwards with a grin, “500 yen on the two of them getting together before the end of the month.” 

Denki smiles, “Please you didn’t see them at the gym yesterday, I give them a week tops.” 

Mina clucks her tongue, “Boys, boys, you have way too much faith in our resident beefcakes. Not a day before two months I say!” 

The two daemons join in as they discuss probabilities, debating who will crack first (Denki’s sure it’ll be Midoriya). It leaves Denki smiling. His friends might be nosy, and overexcitable, and way too optimistic, but Denki wouldn’t give this up for the world. 

He lets their conversation wash over him, content to forget about the Kacchan situation and enjoy their company. 

~~~

A few hours later finds the five of them much calmer. Hanta’s on the floor playing Portal as Ripley berates him and his choices, meanwhile Denki has been doing Mina’s nails while she rants about a new Kpop band she’s been listening to. 

It all goes to hell when Denki’s phone dings, signalling a string of messages. 

Washi brings the device over to him with a squeal, “Guess who’s on his way over!” 

Denki scrambles for the message with a shriek, immediately stuttering out apologies when he nearly smears Mina’s nails. 

LordExplosionMurder💥: oi 

LordExplosionMurder💥: you’re oversized rat’s been annoying the fuck out of me

LordExplosionMurder💥: bastard’s refusing to leave my fucking room i’m dragging her down Dunce Face.

LordExplosionMurder💥: plus we need to talk. be fucking prepared. 

Denki’s eyes bulge as he takes in the disastrous state of his room. There’s crinkled papers sprinkled all across the floor, his dirty clothes in a pile by the foot of his bed, and most importantly, his two nosiest friends haven’t moved an inch, both their eyes gleaming with the desire for gossip. 

Battery💯: sounds good kacchan!!

He shoots off a quick reply before immediately starting to usher Mina and Hanta out of his room, figuring that he can just throw all the mess into his closet. 

Naturally, they put up a fight, “Aw c’mon just let us sit in the corner! You’ll forget we’re even there.” 

“We won’t even make fun of you that much!” 

Denki shakes his head, pushing them towards his door even harder, “There’s not a chance in hell I’m letting you two stay here!” 

Mina pouts at him, letting herself be shoved over towards the locked door, “Boo you whore.” 

Denki rolls his eyes just as Katsuki starts pounding on his door, “Oi Sparks why the fuck is your door locked?!” 

“Sorry one sec!” Denki unlocks it as he shoves Hanta and Mina through. Katsuki and Aza begrudgingly step to the side so the pair can escape, daemons giggling behind them. 

Hanta waves, “Bye man! Remember what we said!” Denki glowers at them as Mina grins behind her hand before linking arms with the taller boy, “C’mon babe, no reason to stay where we’re not wanted. I’m sure Kyouka would be more than willing to entertain us.” 

The two of them abscond, leaving Denki with a glowering Katsuki and an amused Aza. For a few moments Denki’s not quite sure what to say, his own speechlessness not something he’s accustomed to. 

Raijin breaks the tension with a laugh, “You both look like idiots standing out here in the hallway.” 

With that Denki realizes he’s been staring at Kacchan, looking at his daemon with a start, “Rai you’ve been gone all day dude, and what happened to bothering Echo?” The mongoose shrugs before scampering between his legs and into their room. 

Denki looks up at Katsuki with a shrug, “Well, you want to come in?” 

He rolls his eyes, stomping past Denki, “Tch, glad to see you worked it out with those idiots,” as Aza follows. 

Denki tries not to smile as he closes the door with a sigh, turning to Kacchan with a semi-apologetic face, “Sorry if she annoyed you Kacchan! She dipped hours ago because I decided to read.” 

The other blond is sitting backwards on Denki’s desk chair, slowly rotating it side to side with a glower, “Your oversized rodent showed up complaining about Ears kicking her out two hours ago. Then she wouldn’t fucking leave until I promised to come down here.” 

Denki glares at Raijin, “Do you have no manners? Or shame? Or self preservation?” The mongoose blinks up at him innocently, “We both know Aza wouldn’t hurt me though.” 

Denki leans down to swat at her, “I meant from me you little shit.” Raijin dodges with a squeal, hiding herself under Aza’s body. 

Denki groans, “Why must you be such a little asshole, huh?” 

“Takes one to know one Denks!” 

The two of them bicker for a few minutes before Kacchan finally snaps, “God would you two shut the fuck up! You’re two halves of the same annoying ass little bitch who takes pleasure in being a pain in MY ass!” 

Raijin pops her head out to deadpan stare at the explosive blond along with Denki, “Well that was kinda rude.” 

“Yeah, I mean we put up with your anger issues and emotional constipation for YEARS, and you’re drawing a line at some antics? Some shenanigans?” 

“Yeah! Our shenanigans are a walk in the park compared to that!” 

Katsuki growls, “I hope you both fucking die.” Denki pouts theatrically, “Aw c’mon Kacchan, you’d miss us! Who else would drag you down to my dorm for some quality bonding time?!” 

Aza snorts, “They’ve had you pegged since last year, Katsuki, isn’t it time to finally admit it?” 

Raijin chimes in, “Yeah! You could’ve kicked me out whenever you wanted. If anything I gave you an excuse for this!” 

Katsuki growls at them both, “Shut the fuck up- fucking annoying ass little shits.” 

Denki tilts his head in a mix of nerves and curiosity at the reminder that Kacchan did actually want to talk about something, “What did you want to talk about Kacchan? If it’s about Hanta and Mina I already got that figured out, you don’t need to worry.” 

Katsuki crosses his arms, “I never fucking worry Dunce Face.” 

Denki drops himself onto the floor next to Katsuki with a laugh, “Sure Kat, promise I won’t tell anyone else you actually have feelings that aren’t anger,” he winks. 

Katsuki huffs but doesn’t say anything. Denki watches as the other boy seems to collect himself, getting more and more nervous as he keeps silent. 

Once it hits five minutes Denki breaks, “Kacchan you’re kind of scaring me dude- you’re not going to say you secretly hate me or anything right? Because I get that we kind of have an antagonistic dynamic going on sometimes, but I actually really like you dude, you’re like one of my best friends, and it would seriously suck if-” Denki blinks in surprise, voice cut off by one of Kacchan’s sweaty palms being slapped over his mouth. 

“Just shut the fuck up for once dumbass. I can’t stand your idiotic bullshit,” Katsuki isn’t glaring down at him, well he is, but Denki’s gotten good at reading the small differences in his expressions, and this one looks more like concentration than anger. 

“You done?” Denki nods slowly, exhaling when Katsuki takes his hand away, “I’m not fucking good at this shit, emotions and that typa bullshit. So let me figure it the fuck out before you start running around like a chicken with its head cut off.” 

Denki forces himself to focus on his breathing, getting his heartbeat back under control as he slowly relaxes, “Wow Kacchan, actually admitting you aren’t good at something? I’m so proud.” 

He gets ignored by the blond, before sharing a look with Aza, her tail flicking impatiently as they all wait for Katsuki to start talking. The boy in question is obviously deep in thought, palms crackling as he rocks side to side, glaring down at Denki’s floor. 

By the time Katsuki is looking up with a steely glint in his eyes, Raijin has settled in Denki’s lap, preening as he strokes her back. 

“I haven’t stopped thinking about touching your shitty little ferret since the mission three weeks ago,” Katsuki’s eyes are baring into Denki’s as he starts, determination painted across his face. 

“It’s fucking horrible. I ignore this shit for two years and suddenly it’s all I can fucking think about. I promised I would never be one of those idiotic pining losers, and it’s happening over a dumbass like you. What a load of bullshit,” Denki’s mouth is wide open as he listens, utterly shocked. 

Katsuki ignores him, continuing with that same determination, “You got your stupid fucking hands all over my soul, so I’m going to return the fucking favor, alright?” 

Katsuki’s ears are red by the time he finishes, but Denki still feels frozen, unable to reply. Aza speaks up, “I think you broke him.” 

That has Denki finally moving into action, scrambling up as he grabs Katsuki by his shoulders, “Oi what the fuck are you doing?!” 

The redness of his ears are slowly seeping into his face, Denki watching with amazement, “Am I dreaming right now? I feel like I’m dreaming. Rai, bite me.” 

The mongoose bites at his ankle, causing him to hiss in pain, “Wow, yeah okay, not dreaming. Did you actually just confess your feelings for me? Me ?! The biggest idiot in our entire class when you could have anyone you fucking wanted?!” 

Katsuki hits him upside the head, “Don’t say shit like that. You think I would want this with someone who wasn’t on my fucking level?” 

Denki blinks, feeling like the world is turning upside down at his feet, “But I’m not? You’re in the top two of our class and aiming to be the number one some day. I’ll be lucky if I even make it into the top twenty.” 

“You really are a fucking idiot Denki,” Katsuki growls, “You’re a good fucking hero. Your quirk’s versatile as shit and your control’s leagues better than it was our first year. You always know how to make people feel comfortable; you make civilians feel happier than I ever could, as fucking annoying as it is. That’s strength too dumbass.” 

Denki feels like he’s floating, or maybe like he’s about to puke. He doesn’t so much as sit as flop down by Katsuki’s feet. 

He grips at his hair, feeling stray sparks disperse into the air, “Oh my god. Oh my god. You like me. You like me .” 

He looks up at Katsuki with a steadily growing smile, “You like me right?” The boy scowls down at him, somehow still looking annoyed despite the blush on his ears and face, he nods. 

Denki laughs, it bubbles out of his chest, his body filled with something warm and light, like sunshine. He’s sure there’s a bright blush on his face, but he can’t bring himself to care, too caught up in the joy singing throughout his body. 

He smiles up at Katsuki again, “You called me Denki. You think I’m a good fucking hero. You like me.” 

The other boy rolls his eyes, “Well don’t let it go to your head you dunce.” 

“Too late!” Denki jumps up, dancing around his room with a joy so bright it’s hard to look at directly. 

Once he’s finally gotten all his emotions out he turns back to Katsuki, eyes bright as he pants, slightly out of breath. Kacchan’s got a look on his face Denki’s never seen before, a mix of embarrassment and something much softer, like he’s annoyed by how much he cares. 

Denki shifts to look down at his daemon who’s been celebrating with him the last few minutes, “Well Rai how do you feel about some premium Kacchan cuddle time?” 

“Don’t call it that,” the other blond grumbles. 

They both ignore him, “Super excited! I told you this would work out Denks!” She runs over to the desk, easily scaling one of its legs before plopping herself down in front of Katsuki with a grin. 

He grunts, moving so that he’s sitting in the chair correctly before slowly putting a hand out. He looks over to Denki one last time before making contact, obviously seeking permission. 

At Denki’s rather enthusiastic nod he rolls his eyes, and then he’s finally laying a soft hand on the mongoose’s fur. 

Denki thought touching Aza was overwhelming, but that barely holds a candle to what he feels right now. It’s like his heart has been removed from his chest by the world’s softest scalpel. He’s breathless, cradled in ash and fire, in something that feels a little bit like love. 

He sits down, closing his eyes; he lets himself just feel the sensation. He doesn’t turn towards his training, or even try to describe it to himself. He just exists while his heart beats for another. 

Denki opens his eyes when Aza lays her head on his lap, the sudden weight has him looking at Katsuki, who looks about as affected as Denki feels. Katsuki nods before Denki needs to ask, and then he’s petting Aza while Katsuki holds Raijin. 

It clicks then. 

He’s not overwhelmed, not drowning in sensation or desperate for more. 

It just feels right. 

When Aza finally moves so that Denki’s no longer making contact with her, he’s only got about a two second reprieve to stand up before Katsuki is smashing their faces together. 

Denki melts into the kiss immediately, grabbing onto the taller boy’s shoulders as his knees turn to jelly. He tilts his head to the side, running his fingers through Katsuki’s surprisingly soft hair as the kiss goes from great to amazing. 

When Denki finally pulls back to breathe, Katsuki chases after him, but Denki just smiles while trying to remember how to bring oxygen into his lungs. Katsuki looks undeniably smug as he takes in Denki’s face. 

The smirk on his face has Denki pulling him down for another kiss, this one lasting even longer as they somehow end up on Denki’s bed. Katsuki hovering over top of him as he kisses Denki until he’s breathless, barely able to string a thought together. 

By the time their makeout session is finished, Katsuki’s lips are bruised and his hair is extremely ruffled, Denki’s sure he looks much the same. 

Denki’s about to say something remarkably cheesy and entirely embarrassing when Raijin bursts their bubble, “Gag. Can you believe I was rooting for these two?” 

Aza snorts, “It’s not nearly as painful as listening to Eijirou and Izuku try and give Katsuki advice at least.” 

“Oi fuck off! You two are ‘sposed to be fucking happy for us!” Katsuki’s glaring at the two daemons from his spot on top of Denki, and he really should not be finding that as hot as he is. 

“Aw babe just ignore them. Rai’s just trying to annoy me as payback for the numerous times I cried to her about you not liking me back,” Denki smiles as Katsuki turns so that he’s facing Denki again, the intensity of his attention making Denki glow. 

He leans up to press another soft kiss to Katsuki’s lips, leaning back down and chuckling as Katsuki immediately tries to prolong it. Denki runs a hand through the other boy’s hair, face absolutely shining with emotions he can no longer contain. 

“You know I’ve been wanting to kiss you since I was sixteen,” Denki murmurs, fingers tracing Katsuki’s lips before his hand comes to rest on his cheek. 

Katsuki huffs, rolling his eyes before he tilts his head to kiss Denki’s hand, making direct eye contact as he does so. 

Denki can literally feel his face burst into flames at the small gesture, “That’s pathetic Sparks.” 

Denki laughs, “Yeah a little, but I got what I wanted eventually.” 

He makes sure to put all of his love and joy into his smile as Katsuki blinks down at him, “Well, was it worth it?” 

Denki pretends to think about it, humming softly at Katsuki’s words. He looks up innocently, “Kiss me again?” Katsuki rolls his eyes, pretending to be annoyed but immediately leans down, kissing Denki as passionately as he has been from the start. 

Denki lets himself get lost in the feeling of Katsuki’s lips on his, feeling perfectly content to do this for the rest of his life. 

When they finally pull apart again they’re both panting, Denki pretends to think about it for a second more before he grins, “Definitely worth it Kacchan.” 

Katsuki smirks, “Damn right Pikachu.” 

Denki can’t help himself, he laughs. Not a small one either, a full body laugh that has him curling up underneath Katsuki’s body. Soon enough he’s chuckling too, and then they’re both laughing together, curled up together on Denki’s bed as they shake from mirth. 

When they finally calm down, Katsuki is on his right side, half laying on Denki as he snorts to himself. Denki runs an arm over his back, his hand once again landing in Katsuki’s ridiculously soft hair, “God the squad is going to go fucking crazy. Mina and Hanta are literally going to be insufferable.” 

Katsuki groans, “You can deal with those assholes. I’m going to have my hands full with just Deku and Shitty Hair.” 

Denki coos, “Aw don’t worry Baby, they’re gonna be too busy making googoo eyes at each other to care about us.” 

Katsuki immediately buries his face in Denki’s neck at the pet name, cursing, “That’s not fucking fair….” 

Denki gasps, delighted, “No way! Does Big Bad Katsuki like being called sweet little pet names? That’s adorable!” 

That has Katsuki facing him again, face bright red as he argues, “I’m not fucking adorable! I just wasn’t prepared for you to pull that romantic shit.” 

Denki smiles at him teasingly, “Don’t be embarrassed Baby. How do you feel about Babe? Darling? Maybe even Sweetheart?” At that last one Katsuki’s hands crackle with mini explosions, nearly putting holes in Denki’s bed spread. 

Denki laughs, ignoring Katsuki’s threats and curses, “Well looks like we have a winner! Don’t worry, I won’t embarrass you in front of our friends, I know how much you hate that,” Denki winks, expecting Katsuki to grunt gratefully or something of that nature. 

Instead, Katsuki’s looking at him like he’s trying to read his mind, gaze intense as he searches for something on Denki’s face, “Would you like that?” 

Denki blinks, “Huh?” 

Katsuki glowers, “PDA, fucking romantic dates, do you want that?” 

Taken aback, Denki takes a moment to just look at the boy in bed with him. Katsuki’s obviously embarrassed, face and ears still red, and he’s looking at Denki’s pillow like he’s about to murder it. 

So Denki takes a moment to really think about it, what Katsuki’s asking, what Denki actually wants. 

He nods after a second, eyes serious as he looks over Katsuki, “Yeah. I want to go on dates with you. I don’t care if it’s as simple as coffee or as fancy as a five star restaurant. As long as I get to take you out and vice versa, well that’s enough for me.” 

Denki shrugs, suddenly embarrassed, “I want to be able to hold your hand in public, or with our friends. Call you cute shit like sweetheart and watch the blush travel from your ears to your cheeks. I mean, obviously if you’re not comfortable with it that’s- I mean that’s fine. I don’t want to push you or anything I know shit like that’s hard for you. We don’t even really have to tell our friends if you don’t want to, I mean they’ll be really annoying anyway, it might be for the bes-”

 Katsuki shuts him up with a kiss, which is by far the best way Denki’s ever been forcibly shut up. 

His eyes are fluttering when Katsuki pulls back, “I don’t give a single flying fuck if any of those extras know about us. Shout it from the rooftops if you want to-” 

He scowls, pausing for a second as his eyebrows furrow, Denki lets him work through what he wants to say. Katsuki starts again with gritted teeth, as if it’s painful to say, “You’re gonna have to give me time for the cutesy PDA bullshit. I ain’t exactly used to that shit.” 

Denki nods his head vigorously, “Don’t worry Babe! I’ll just have to get you used to it in private,” he winks. 

Katsuki rolls his eyes even as he blushes, “I’ll take you on the best fucking dates Dunce Face. You’re never gonna have a boyfriend better than me.” 

Denki smiles softly at Katsuki’s softly scowling face. His lips are still bruised, he’s still blushing, and he’s still laying nearly on top of Denki. 

When he woke up this morning Denki didn’t even think something like this could be possible. Katsuki Bakugou, reciprocating his feelings, even now it feels like a dream. 

Denki places another soft kiss on the boy’s lips, “I can’t help but agree.”